Integration of Theory with Practice. Leukemia Case Reflection

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Medicine - Pediatrics, grade: 1, Egerton University, language: English, abstract: In nursing practice, practical skills are essential. It is through practical approaches that learners, as well as practicing nurses apply theoretical knowledge to improve patients' outcome. This is the principal goal of nursing interventions. However, the success of nursing interventions depends on the professional competence of the nurses providing care. It is evident that the level of competence varies among nurses, more or less the same as it is the case with intelligence. Nevertheless, all nurses, as well as other healthcare professionals are expected to demonstrate their potential for giving healthcare services to patients efficiently. This explains why all professionals in healthcare to integrate knowledge and practical skills. This was demonstrated in the simulation activity that involved providing nursing interventions to Jenny, a leukemia patient. Jenny, a 10 year old girl had been diagnosed with leukemia. Six months after her diagnosis with leukemia, she suffered pneumonia that led to her hospitalization for 10 days, after which she was discharged home with home care support services and the palliative care team. During her hospitalization, she received treatment in which nursing interventions were adopted to address the underlying conditions, in order to improve the patient's health and quality of life. For instance, our group offered nursing care to Jenny including administering Ceftriaxone 650Mg BD IV during the simulation session. In this case scenario, several of theoretical perspectives were required. Therefore, this critical reflection will discuss four key theoretical perspectives: pathophysiology, relevant pharmacology, inter-professional roles in patient centered care, and psychosocial issues related to the case scenario, and demonstrate the relationship between theoretical concepts and clinical practice.